2052 Olympics- Something like Never Before

"Access granted. Welcome to the 2052 Olympic Games' Activity Centre."

I removed my thumb from the finger pad as the resplendent door gradually parted, revealing

the exorbitant interior of the centre where athletes polished their skills. I thought about the

crystal clear Olympic stadium, complete with state-of-the-art equipment such as tennis courts

hovering above the ground , holographic pools and tracks, and of course, this activity centre,

complete with services catering to the athletes' needs. Being here was truly a dream come

true, and I could hardly believe it myself. Of course, along the way people dropped brusque

comments about my achievements, that I cheated, took steroids, the list went on. However,

my family and friends believed in me, and that was sufficient. I wasn't about to disappoint

them.

I immediately spotted my arch-rival, Chloe Letterman, shooting me a hostile look. We were

competing against each other in the Synchronized diving event and I could only comprehend

her hostility as envy. After all, she was the 'Athlete Of The Year', that is, until I took her title

away from her recently and she was no longer the athlete everyone looked up to and aspired

to become.

I shot her an equally vicious glare and felt a soft push against my knees. My self-automated

computerized armchair, complete with a holographic television floated over and apologized

for its lack of efficiency to materialize. "Forgiven," I replied. All around me, athletes were

busy practicing for the Games, from the sprinter Jake Fuller sprinting on the holographic

track to the gymnast Vivica Zhang working out on the crystallized gymnastic equipment .

When I reverted my attention back to Chloe, she had already gone, probably to train at the

actual pool. Practice made perfect, I guess. I pushed worries about strategizing for the Games

out of my mind and accessed the Musichip wired in my brain. I strolled through my playlist

and finally found my favorite song, shut my eyes and let my thoughts drift away......

' Beep, beep, BEEP.' I turned off my music in exasperation. I was really irked now.

"Show," I hissed, and instantly my holographic inbox came into view. I strolled through

them mentally, deleting off trivial messages, when one particular message caught my

attention. It was a message sent to me just a while ago, from my teammate Mac. Come up to

L9 now. Emergency! I knew immediately from her tone that it was exigent, because Mac

hardly ever loses her cool. " To L9," I muttered to my trusty armchair. With the help of the

armchair's hypersonic ability, it zapped through the wind tunnel leading to the various stories

and I was at L9 in a New York minute. I stepped out of my faithful companion, commanded

it to return and hurried over to Mac.

Before I even had the chance to ask Mac what this was all about, she spotted me

instantaneously and motioned for me to give the mineral-water pool a once-over. Following

her gaze, I caught a glimpse of Chloe Letterman carrying out her daily drill perfecting her

dives with her teammate, Joan. What stunned me was their ability to perform incredibly en

masse dives- Chloe was performing a forward dive, while Joan was performing an inward

dive , and both of them mirrored each other's actions so unerringly it hurt. What exactly

happened? Where was the team which I had defeated hands-down all along?

Beside me, Mac was seething with anger. "We've worked so hard to outdo them, Dana. Here

we are, barely started on this week's module which we can't comprehend at all, and there

they are, skills already impeccable. I can't go back KO-ed this time, Dana, and you know it."

Tears were streaming down her cheeks now, and I felt a pang of guilt. Perhaps we could have

mastered the skill in a more superior way than they had, had we not idled around exploring

the VirtuMusic Playground the Olympic committee had customized for every athlete

according to their interests, complete with cutting-edge sports and entertainment equipment.

Anger, when used appropriately, could do a world of good but it could also result in serious

damage when in extreme emotions. In my moment of anger, I came up with what was

probably the worst idea I ever had in my life- I leaned over to Mac and whispered " Beating

Chloe and Joan? Simple- We doctor pictures